Vacuum elevating conveyor

ABSTRACT

A conveyor is disclosed for moving articles such as closure caps and other articles in a continuous stream to a higher elevation along a relatively steep path. The conveyor has an endless belt with an air permeable surface. An inclined article transporting run of the belt passes over and communicates with a vacuum box whereby articles fed onto the bottom of the moving belt are held on the belt by a vacuum force as they are carried upwardly to the elevated discharge point. A control is included in the vacuum forming box to automatically regulate the vacuum force on the articles in accordance with the number of articles held on the moving belt.

United States Patent n 1 Probasco 1 Mar. 27 1973 [54] VACUUM ELEVATINGCONVEYOR Primary Examinere-Evon' C. Blunk [75] Inventor: Charles W.Probasco, Lancaster, Exammer-nouglas wam O i Attorney-Norman -N. Holland[73] Assignee: Anchorggcking Corporation, Lan- 57 ABSTRACT' caster, 10 vA conveyor is disclosed for moving articles such as Flledi 1971 closurecaps and other articles in a continuous'stream to a hi her elevationalon a relatively stee ath. The [21] Appl. No.. 129,784 g g I P Pconveyor has an endless belt with an air permeable surface. An inclinedarticle transporting run of the :Liil l l l belt passes over dcommunicates a vacuum box I'll g whereby articles fed onto the of themoving [58] Flew of Search 198/1 84; 271/74; 302/2 gag/ belt are held onthe belt by a vacuum force as they are carried upwardly to the elevateddischarge point. .A 5 6] References Cited control is included in thevacuum forming box to automatically regulate the vacuum force on thearticles in UNITED STATES PATENTS accordance with the number of articlesheld on the b lt. 3,650,369 3/1972 Vergobbi ..302/2 R movmg e 3,355,16611/1967 Plumb ..271/74 X 1 Chim, 6 Drawing Figures 3,321,121 5/1967Nyberg et al. ..27l/74 X 1 VACUUM ELEVATING CONVEYOR BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to a conveyor for elevatingrelatively small articles, such as closure caps and the like in acontinuous stream to a raised elevation along a relatively steep path.More particularly, the invention relates to a device utilizing acontrolled vacuum force for holding articles onto a moving conveyor beltsurface as the articles are moved to their elevated position. I

There are a variety of processing and manufacturing operations where itis necessary to feed or to supply a continuous stream of discretearticles to a particular station in the manufacturing or processingoperation. Frequently, the desired delivery point is at an elevatedposition from the normal supply point for the articles. In addition,limited space requirements in such typical operations often require themeans for supplying the in the sealing machine line. In this case and innu-.

merous similar operations, an article supplying means is needed which isrelatively simple and correspondingly reliable and which at the sametime can move the articles along a relatively steep path at high speedsand without scratching or otherwise marking decorated or highly glossedsurfaces of caps or other articles. Known conveyor devices which usemechanical cleats or other members for physically supporting.

and moving the caps are not suitable in these cases due to theirtendency to scratch or otherwise mark the articles in high speedcontinuous feeding operations.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide animproved conveyor for lifting articles along 'a relatively steep path ina continuous stream.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple andreliable article conveyor operating on a relatively steep path.

r The preferred means .for this is the provisionof'aseries Anotherobject of the present invention is to provide BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEDRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment ofthe vacuum elevating conveyor in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view conveyor of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the conveyor taken along line 33 on FIG.1.

partially cut away of the.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional vievt of the conveyor ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the vacuum control means onthe vacuum box; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the vacuum control means taken along line6-6 on FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of thevacuum. elevating conveyor 1 is illustrated in FIG. 1 carrying a movingline of closure caps 2 from a supply chute or hopper 3 upwardly to aremoval conveyor 4. The conveyor 1 includes a belt and vacuum boxassembly 5 with its lower end positioned at the cap hopper 3 and withits upper end positioned adjacent the removal conveyor 4 to transfercaps onto it. The belt and vacuum box assembly 5 is mounted at thedesired feeding position on a suitable frame 6 which also supports 'aconveyor belt drive system 7 and a vacuum box vacuumizing assembly 8 aswell as suitable controls 9 for these elements. A vacuum control meansis shown at 10 on the side of the vacuum box 11 portion of the belt andvacuum box assembly 5.

The details of the preferred embodiment of the belt and vacuum boxassembly 5 are illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3'

and 4. The assembly is seen to comprise the elongated hollow vacuum box11 having a belt supporting cover 12 and a relatively flat bottom 13adapted to support the return run 14 of the conveyor belt 15. The cover12 and bottom 13 are connected by airtight side plates 16 and end platesl7'and suitable brackets l8'are attached to the side plates 16 to mountthe conveyor belt end pulleys '19 on pulley shafts 20. The bearings 21for upper end pulley are seen (FIG. 1 to have adjusting of smallapertures 25 extendingcompletely around the belt 15 adjacent to thelongitudinal center line of the belt 15 as best illustrated in FIGS. 2and 4. 'The cover 12 of the vacuum box 11 also has an opening 26 so thatthey may communicate with the partial vacuumbeing drawn within thevacuum box 11 by the vacuumizing means 8. The preferred form ofthis'opening is an elongated slot having a width slightly greater thanthe diameter of the conveyor belt apertures 25 and extending from thelower end of the vacuum box 11 to the upper end. This opening 26isprovided, as best seen in FIG. 3, by forming the vacuum box cover 12in two channel portions 27 where each portion has an outer flange 28attached to the vacuum box sides 16 so that opposed inner flanges'29cooperate to define the above described slot or opening 26. A series ofreinforcing members 30 are preferably provided for the box- 11 asillustrated in FIG. 3. The return run 14 of the belt 15 is supported onthe inner surface of the vacuum box bottom 13 with suitable inlet andoutlet slots 31 being provided in the vacuum box ends 17 to permitpassage of the belt 15 with a minimum entry of air into the vacuum box11. at these slots 31; A series of crossframes 32 are attached to thevacuum box cover 12 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 to support a pair ofarticle guiding side rails 33 and an article guiding top rail 34. Theserails 33 and 34 preferably extend beyond the upper end of the conveyor 1over the initial portion of the removable conveyor 4 to guide the caps 2onto the removal conveyor 4 under the force of the newly arriving caps'2at this location as illustrated at the top of 7 FIG. 1. v

The conveyor drive 7 comprises an electric drive motor 35 mounted on theframe 6 and coupled by suitable gearing 36 to a right angle speedreduction device 37. The speed reduction device 37 drives the lowerconveyor pulley 19 through the intermediation of sprockets 38 and 39 anda drive chain 40. Inorder to form the partial vacuum within theelongated vacuum box 11, a vacuum outlet 41 at the side of the box -11is coupled by an air exhaust duct 42 to an air blower 43 which draws airfrom the vacuum box '11 through the v air exhaust duct 42.

In order to maintain a substantially uniform vacuum force on the caps 2being moved upwardly by the conveyor belt 15, an automatic vacuumcontrol device is provided on the vacuum box 11 as illustrated at 10 inFIG.' 1 and as shown in greater detail in FIGS. and 6. This vacuumcontrol device comprises a vacuum control port 44 in the box side 16 anda control'plate 45 pivotally mounted at 46 for opening and closing theport 44. The free-end of the controlplate 45 is urged towards its closedposition by a spring 47 coupled at one end to the plate 45 and its otherend to a bracket 48 on the vacuum box 11. The spring 47 is connected tothe bracket 48 by an adjusting screw49 to permit the spring tension tobe adjusted for vacuum control. The spring force is set to permit thevacuum plate 45 to open more widely as additio nal'apertures 25 on thebelt a fairly constant air flow through the air exhaust duct 42 and thusa substantially constant vacuum force on the caps 2 transported. Thisvacuum control device improves the initial loading operation as thefirst caps move onto the belt by assuring a sufficientvacuurn force topick up the initial caps. Ittalso improves the any scratching or markingor other injury tothe conveyed articles. v

. As various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts herein without de arting from the spirit andscope of the invention and WI hout sacrificing any of its advantages, itIS to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

.15 are closed by moving caps 2and in this way to keep subseguentoperation of the belt as it becomes substan- The caps 2 may pass over orout of the top end of the conveyor belt 15 as seen in FIG. 1 or they maybe guided from the side of the conveyor belt 15 through guide rails 50as seen in FIG. 2.

It will be seen that an improved vacuum elevating I conveyor has beenprovided for items such as metal or plastic closure caps or otherarticles. The conveyor is capable of feeding a continuous stream of sucharticles Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1.' A vacuum elevator conveyor for continuously moving differing numbersof cup-like articles in a line from a supply position to a dischargeposition at a different elevation comprising the combination of:

an elongated vacuum box including an air outlet port; conveyor beltmounting pulleys posite far ends of said box; an elongated endlessconveyor belt mounted on said pulleys and having an article transportingrun engaging an elongated upper surface of said box; an air permeablezone of spaced perforations extending longitudinally and completelyaround said belt; an elongated longitudinally directed air entry slotpositioned in said elongated upper surface of said box and communicatingwith said air permeable zone on said belt; I means for drivingsaidconveyom means coupled to said air outlet port for evacuating airfrom said box thereby drawing air into the box positioned at opthroughsaid air permeable zone on said belt and said air entry slot;

support means for said box positioning it with one of said pulleys atsaid supply position and the other of said pulleys-positioned at saiddischarge position and with said one belt run thereby being inclinedfrom the horizontal; a

- automatic control valve means on said box for ad justing the'volume ofair drawn. into said box for controlling the air flow through said airpermeable zone in accordance with the number of said article's on saidarticle transporting run;

guide rails extending along opposite edges of the article transportingrun portion of said belt for guiding said articles laterally of saidbelt; g

a top rail extending aboveat'least an initial portion of said articletransporting run for aligning said cuplike articles with their openingsparallel to the arti-' cle transporting run of said belt; and guidemeans adjacent the pulley at said discharge position and beyond said airentry slot for directing articles off of said belt! I iw :k x a:

1. A vacuum elevator conveyor for continuously moving differing numbersof cup-like articles in a line from a supply position to a dischargeposition at a different elevation comprising the combination of: anelongated vacuum box including an air outlet port; conveyor beltmounting pulleys positioned at opposite far ends of said box; anelongated endless conveyor belt mounted on said pulleys and having anarticle transporting run engaging an elongated upper surface of saidbox; an air permeable zone of spaced perforations extendinglongitudinally and completely around said belt; an elongatedlongitudinally directed air entry slot positioned in said elongatedupper surface of said box and communicating with said air permeable zoneon said belt; means for driving said conveyor; means coupled to said airoutlet port for evacuating air from said box thereby drawing air intothe box through said air permeable zone on said belt and said air entryslot; support means for said box positioning it with one of said pulleysat said supply position and the other of said pulleys positioned at saiddischarge position and with said one belt run thereby being inclinedfrom the horizontal; automatic control valve means on said box foradjusting the volume of air drawn into said box for controlling the airflow through said air permeable zone in accordance with the number ofsaid articles on said article transporting run; guide rails extendingalong opposite edges of the article transporting run portion of saidbelt for guiding said articles laterally of said belt; a top railextending above at least an initial portion of said article transportingrun for aligning said cup-like articles with their openings parallel tothe article transporting run of said belt; and guide means adjacent thepulley at said discharge position and beyond said air entry slot fordirecting articles off of said belt.